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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29296020">Be mine?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/trolla22/pseuds/trolla22'>trolla22</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops &amp; Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Flirting, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Minor Na Jaemin/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun, Slight Cursing, Strangers to Lovers, Valentine's Day</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:42:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,671</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29296020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/trolla22/pseuds/trolla22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>‘Just ask him out already’, Johnny, his coworker said. ‘You’ve been ogling him for three weeks now’. </p><p>‘I have not’, Mark whispered defensively. ‘It’s just that he is hard not to miss, considering his height’. </p><p>or</p><p>Mark is a chaotic gay, too shy to ask out his crush. What happens when he somehow still manages to do so?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Liu Yang Yang, Mark Lee/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Be mine?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘Just ask him out already’, Johnny, his coworker said. ‘You’ve been ogling him for three weeks now’. ‘I have not’, Mark whispered defensively. ‘It’s just that he is hard not to miss, considering his height’. The two baristas were standing behind the counter, chatting, since it was a pretty quiet day at the café. There were only a handful of customers today, including the one boy that Mark had been staring at earlier. Said boy was sitting at a small table at the corner of the café just next to the window, deeply immersed in a book. From where he stood, Mark could just barely make out the title of the book. If his eyes were not deceiving him, the boy was reading Kafka on the Shore. The boy was wearing glasses today, which somehow managed to make him look even more handsome. His hair was slightly disheveled which, combined with his hoodie, perfectly fit the comfy aesthetic that he was going for.</p><p> </p><p>‘Don’t lie, Mark. It’s obvious that you have a crush on him, which is completely understandable. That boy is the definition of your type’, Johnny said, loud enough for Mark to hear, but not that loud so that the boy would overhear. Johnny wasn’t wrong. That guy was definitely everything Mark would look for in a guy, at least appearance wise. He was tall and a little on the buffer side. He had a beautiful skin tone, a nice tan colour that made it seem like he was kissed by the sun. He had a nice deep voice that sounded absolutely like heaven. He had the biggest hands Mark had ever seen, which definitely had caused some wet dreams for Mark. ‘Maybe, if you play your cards right, you will be able to get laid for Valentine’s Day’, Johnny said with a wink. Mark didn’t respond to that.</p><p> </p><p>‘Ugh Valentine’s Day’, Mark thought. He was really not looking forward to Valentine’s Day, which was just a little less than a week away. He just knew on that day, like every other year, the café would be packed with couples obnoxiously sucking off each others faces and he was definitely not in the mood for that. He was just thankful that the café was only open until 4pm so he didn’t have to deal with couples going out on Valentine’s Day dinners. He usually didn’t mind being the single friend in his circle of friends, but having to serve those couples, whilst also staying polite and smiling at all times, was annoying to say the least. Having to deal with Donghyuck and Yangyang being all over each other 24/7 was already exhausting, let alone dozens of strangers. </p><p> </p><p>Maybe Johnny was right. What was the worst that could happen. He had been single for so long already, maybe giving another shot at dating was not a bad idea. ‘How do I even know if that guy is into men, let alone, into me?’, Mark whispered to Johnny. ‘He is definitely into you, Mark. He has been coming here for the past few months already, and always only on the days you work’, Johnny replied. ‘That can’t be a coincidence’, his coworker followed. ‘Maybe it is. Maybe he just likes to come here on Mondays and Wednesdays. Or maybe he is busy on the other days’, he quickly replied. ‘Well, if you never ask, you’ll never know’, Johnny said with a shrug.</p><p> </p><p>‘Fuck it’, Mark thought. He was going to do this. However, being the chaotic gay that he was, there was no way that Mark could just straight up approach the boy and ask him out. He had to approach this in a different way. So he did. He was coming up with a brilliant plan to approach the boy. His first step was simple: offer the guy a free chocolate cake. He could do this, he had been working at this café for four years already. This should be easy peasy lemon squeezy. Wrong. As he was approaching the table the boy was sitting at, he could feel his heartbeat quicken. ‘Come on Mark. You can do this. Just say as you rehearsed. Just say ‘Hi, I’ve got you a piece of chocolate cake on my treat. Enjoy!’. Nothing hard about that’, Mark thought. But once Mark stood at the table, he felt himself freeze with the cake still in his hands. The boy looked up from his book, clearly confused. ‘Um, hi. Can I help you?’, the boy said, with his deep voice. Mark just stood there, completely silent until his brain finally comprehended that the boy was talking to him. ’Umm, erm. Chocolate cake. Here. Haha’, Mark said, putting the cake down on the table before quickly making his way back to the counter. He was internally crying for making such a fool out of himself. ‘Why did you do that Mark. What were you thinking’, Mark thought, softy bonking his head on the counter. From the corner of his eyes he could see Johnny trying to hold in his laughter. ‘Real smooth Mark’, Johnny laughed. ‘Shut up’, was all Mark could murmur.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>When Mark came in on Wednesday, the boy was luckily not there. Mark let out a little breath of relief. He was not ready to see the boy again after what happened the other day. He decided that having a date on Valentine’s Day was just not worth all this effort. He was content being single and third wheeling Donghyuck and Yangyang for the rest of his life. Although, he wasn’t so sure if he wanted to third wheel on Valentine’s Day. Knowing Donghyuck and Yangyang, they would most likely spend their Valentine’s Day in the bedroom trying out some dirty stuff. Mark shook his head, trying not to think about that. He was working with Jaemin today, who was talking his ear off about the newest Bridgeton episode.</p><p> </p><p>A few minutes later, the doorbell rang, indicating that a new customer had came in. Mark could feel his heartbeat fasten, hoping that it was not the tall boy that had been visiting the café consistently. Luckily for him, it was just Xiaojun, Jaemin’s boyfriend. Once Jaemin saw the boy, he let out a small shriek. ‘Baby, I missed you!!’ Jaemin said, while making his way to hug his boyfriend. ‘We just saw each other yesterday’, Xiaojun replied with a laugh, sweetly kissing the younger boy. There he was, once again feeling single. He couldn’t complain about this though, since he was the one who introduced the two boys to each other at the first place. Besides they truly made a really cute couple, who were obviously very much in love with each other. And Mark has grown quite used to it, since Xiaojun came in almost every week to visit his boyfriend at work if he could.</p><p> </p><p>The doorbell rang again, which prompted Mark to turn his head to the entrance of the café. His eyes grew bigger and he could feel his face burning up once he saw who the customer was. It was none other than the boy from Monday. Jaemin and Xiaojun looked at Mark, knowingly. ‘Hey, it’s your boyfriend’, Jaemin whispered softly, just loud enough for the three of them to hear. Mark shot him a glare as if to tell him to mind his own business. The tall boy was quickly walking towards the counter and greeted them with a big smile. ‘Hi, guys! Mark, I just wanted to thank you for the pie the other day. I really enjoyed it, but I feel guilty for not paying for it, so let me just..’ the boy said whilst grabbing something in his bag. ‘Here, I’m sure this should be enough to cover it’, he put a ten dollar bill on the counter. ‘Wait what. It’s okay, you really don’t have to pay for it’, Mark replied, pushing the money back to the boy, ‘it was my treat, so don’t worry about it’. ‘Oh, are you sure? I don’t mind paying for it’, came the reply. ‘Um, maybe you can repay me by giving me your name and number’, Mark said before he knew it, not knowing where this sudden burst of confidence came from. Just a second later, he could feel his ears becoming red. He was almost considering saying that it was a joke when the boy suddenly replied. ’Yeah sure! I’m Lucas, but you can call me Yukhei’, he said with a wink. The boy grabbed a napkin from the napkin dispenser and a pencil, and wrote down his number. ‘This is my number, text me’, he said with a smirk, handing the napkin over to Mark before walking to his usual table.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>‘Ugh, what do I do’, Mark groaned, whilst hiding his face in a pillow. It was Friday and he was having dinner with Haechan and Yangyang. They just ordered pizza and were now waiting for it to arrive. ‘How about you text him, like a normal person?’, Yangyang mumbled, busy kissing Haechan all over. ‘Yeah, just text him that you’re Mark from the café and ask if he’s interested in a date. It’s that simple, Mark’, Haechan said absently, obviously distracted by Yangyang who was kissing his neck and feeling him up. ‘You guys know I’m bad at this, please help me’, Mark whined. ‘Fine, just give me your phone’, Haechan sat up, slightly annoyed that his make-out session with Yangyang was interrupted. ‘God please let this man find a boyfriend soon, so that me and Yangyang can fuck in peace’, Haechan said dramatically. Mark was watching as Haechan was typing away on his phone. After a few minutes, Haechan handed Mark back his phone, ’Done, here you go. Now you just wait for a reply’.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Me: Hey, it’s Mark, from the café. I just wanted to tell you that I find you really hot and I was wondering if you would like to go out on a date with me sometime.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>‘What the fuck, Haechan. Why did you send that!’, Mark yelled. ‘Now he thinks that I’m some horny dude or something’, he screamed, throwing a pillow towards Haechan. ‘You said you needed help, it’s your own fault for trusting me with your phone’, Haechan replied with a shrug, moving back to the couch where he and Yangyang were sitting. ‘What did he send. Let me see’, Yangyang asked, holding his hand out for the phone. ‘It’s not that bad, Mark. You’re being dramatic. There’s nothing wrong with telling someone that you think they’re hot’, Yangyang rolled his eyes. ‘Yeah, he’ll probably see it as a compliment’, Haechan added. But before Mark could reply, their doorbell rang.</p><p> </p><p>It was 8pm now. The three boys were sitting on the couch watching some horror movie, when Mark’s phone suddenly lighted up.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Lucas, or Yukhei?: Hey Mark, I was starting to think that you wouldn’t text me anymore. Let me just say that you’re not so bad yourself either. I mean that ass is a piece of art ;). And I’d love to go on a date with you, is Sunday okay for you?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>‘AAHH’, Mark screamed out, causing the other two boys to jump. ‘What the hell, Mark. This movie isn’t even that scary, damn’, Haechan said, obviously unaware of what had caused that reaction out of him. ‘He texted back’, Mark said, handing his phone over to the other two boys. ‘Oehh, sounds like Mark is gonna get some’, Yangyang said, laughing when Mark bent over to hit him on his arm. ‘What should I reply?’, Mark asked. ‘Should I say yes? Fuck it, I’m going to say yes’, Mark said, before responding to Yukhei’s text. ‘Done, I sent it. No more turning back now’. Haechan and Yangyang proudly cheered, telling him that it was about time that he found a boyfriend again. After thirty minutes or so, Haechan suddenly sat up, as if having a revelation, ‘Omygod Mark, I just realised that it’s Valentine’s Day on Sunday’. Yangyang sat up as well, ‘Omygod it is. Does that mean that you’ve got a Valentine’s Day date? And, does that mean that you won’t be third wheeling our date?’, he said looking knowingly at Haechan. It totally slipped his mind that it was Valentine’s Day that Sunday. ‘Should I cancel the date and reschedule for another day?’, he thought, not sure whether or not he wanted his first date with Yukhei to be on Valentine’s Day. ‘Fuck it’, he thought, it can’t be that bad to have a first date on Valentine’s Day. It probably would be a little more crowded than usual, but that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.</p><p> </p><p>A little over two hours had passed and the movie that they were watching just finished. Mark started to feel tired, ‘I’m should probably get going’, he yawned. ‘Are you sure? You could also crash over here if you want?’, Haechan replied, looking up from where he was lying. ‘No thanks, I’m fine. Plus I’m not sure if I even want to stay over again. I still have a trauma from when I stayed over last time’, Mark said with a shiver, trying his hardest not to recall the moans and screams he heard that night. ‘Maybe that’s for the best. At least that way you won’t be traumatised again tonight’, Yangyang said whilst smirking at Haechan. ‘Maybe you’ll be the one moaning soon’, Haechan added to that, laughing when Mark threw popcorn at his face.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It was almost 4:30pm and Mark was currently standing in front of his wardrobe, stressing out about what to wear. He only had a little over a hour and a half left before Yukhei would come pick him up, since he had to work until 4pm today. He desperately needed help, and he knew just exactly who to call. He grabbed his phone and searched for Haechan’s number before dialling it. ‘You’ve called the right person’, Haechan said, after Mark explained his dilemma to him. ‘Wear those black skinny jeans that we bought together last month, those really accentuates your ass. And I mean he basically admitted that he wants to tap that ass’, Haechan said. Mark groaned in response, but he had to agree, those jeans did look really good on him. Now all he needed was to figure out which top to wear. He didn’t want to look too overdressed, or worse too desperate. Buton the other hand, he still wanted to look like he put some effort into his outfit. ‘How about those black&amp;white striped long sleeve shirt. That one is pretty nice, and isn’t too exaggerated. You can pair it with those black converse you love so much’, Haechan offered. ‘That could work’, Mark thought. Once he changed into that outfit, he was actually really content with it. ‘I could kiss you right now’, he said, blowing a kiss to Haechan via FaceTime. ‘Gross. I already have a boyfriend, go and get your own’, Haechan said, deliberately making a face to the camera. ‘Well, maybe if tonight goes well, I might actually have one’, Mark said, secretly hoping that he does get a boyfriend out of all this. ‘I’m just going to style my hair and put some finishing touches. Thanks again Haechan, I don’t know what I would do without you’, he said hurriedly. ‘Just get yourself a man, that’s enough as a thank you. That way you’ll no longer be interrupting my sexy time with Yangyang. Which you just did by the way, with this video call’, Haechan joked, shifting the camera so that Yangyang could greet him. Mark got the memo, so he greeted them goodbye and moved to work on his hair.</p><p> </p><p>After twenty more minutes, Mark stood in front of the mirror and was finally satisfied with how he looked. He grabbed his phone to see that he had approximately ten more minutes left, so he sprayed on some perfume and grabbed his coat and went to the living room of his apartment, which he shared with his roommate Jaehyun, to wait for his date to arrive. Just after five minutes, he heard his doorbell ring, so he hurried to open it. He was blown away by the sight in front of him. The tall boy was standing there, dressed in black slacks and a black turtleneck. He wore a camel wool coat that fit his height perfectly. His hair was loosely done in a comma style. He was simply looking ethereal. Mark couldn’t believe that someone as gorgeous as Yukhei would ever agree to go out on a date with him. ‘You look amazing’, Yukhei said, while looking Mark straight in the eyes. ‘Oh thank you’, he replied, slightly blushing, ‘But have you seen yourself it’s like you just walked straight out of a fashion magazine’. Yukhei laughed loudly because of that, ‘Thanks, I actually had a few modelling agencies approach me, but I figured that I should finish college first before possibly pursuing a modelling career’. Mark was absolutely flabbergasted. So the guy he is about to go on a date with, could one day <em>actually</em> be gracing the covers of a fashion magazine. ‘Are you ready to go?’, Yukhei asked, ‘I have my car parked just outside’.</p><p> </p><p>After a short ride, they parked at a street nearby the place Yukhei chose. He actually recognised this street, it was quite close to the café he works at. ‘He’s probably taking me to one of those fancy or hip restaurants just a few streets away from the café’, he thought. However, what he didn’t expect was for Yukhei to lead him to the exact café that had been like a second home to him for the past few years. ‘What are we doing here?’, he asked the taller boy. ‘We have arrived at our date!’, Yukhei exclaimed happily. Mark didn’t understand. The café was closed and nobody was there. What did Yukhei mean. Just as Mark was about to ask Yukhei to clarify, Yukhei began to speak, ‘I asked Johnny the other day to borrow this place for our first date. He agreed almost immediately. He gave me the keys just this morning’. ‘You know, I have actually been crushing on you for the longest time now. But I was too shy to ask you out, so I’ve just been admiring you from afar’, Yukhei continued sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. ‘I hope you like what I did to the place. I wanted to it to be special, so I kind of went out of my way for this night’, Yukhei said as he was twisting the keys in the lock. Mark, who was at a loss for words, could only stare at the boy. When they stepped foot inside the café, Mark couldn’t believe his eyes. The place was fully decorated with little fairy lights. In the middle there was a round clothed table with porcelain plates and a wine bottle and two wineglasses. The floor was covered with red rose petals and small LED tea lights. Mark turned to face Yukhei, ‘You really didn’t have to. I mean all the effort you went through. I’m just-‘ Mark didn’t know what else to say. He was literally rendered speechless. ‘I wanted to. I mean I have been visiting each Monday and Wednesday for months now just so I could watch you work for a few hours. I’m pretty sure I spent well over 120 dollars on coffee just so I could see your face’, Yukhei said with smile, ‘So don’t worry about it and let’s just enjoy our date’. With that Yukhei led Mark to the table at the middle.</p><p> </p><p>‘I prepared some steak with the help of a friend of mine. He’s really good at cooking so I’m sure that we won’t get food-poisoning tonight’. ‘He actually teaches a cooking class, maybe we could join one together for a next date!’ Yukhei said excitedly. ‘Thank you, Yukhei. Really. I could never image this, it’s beyond my expectations’, Mark said earnestly. After they finished the food, Mark turned to Yukhei, ‘I actually have something to say to you. I’ve been liking you for a long time now as well. And, since you confessed, I might as well take a chance. Yukhei, would you do me an honour and officially be my boyfriend?’. Mark was staring at his hands, not daring to look up, afraid that Yukhei might reject him. ‘Mark, of course! I would love to be your boyfriend’, Yukhei said, ‘Does this mean that I can kiss you?’. Mark, sure that he was completely red now, could only nod. When their lips met it was like fireworks exploded behind them. It was everything Mark imagined it to be. Those soft plump lips have been on his minds forever and finally being able to kiss them was surreal. He couldn’t believe that he actually got himself a boyfriend on Valentine’s Day.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Epilogue</p><p> </p><p>‘So, you’re telling me that he prepared rose pedals and tea lights?’, Haechan yelled over the phone. ‘If he went that far for a first date, imagine how far will he go for a marriage proposal. Damn Mark, you really hit the jackpot there’.</p><p> </p><p>‘I agree. Seriously Mark, if you won’t marry him then I sure as hell will. Sorry Haechan’, Yangyang said.</p><p> </p><p>‘I’m not even mad at that. I mean I would do the same’, came Haechan’s reply.</p><p> </p><p>‘Soo, when will we meet him?’, the two boys on the other side of the line asked.</p><p> </p><p>‘Oeh we could go on double dates!’ Yangyang said excitedly, already planning their double date.</p><p> </p><p>‘I will introduce him soon. But please, when you guys meet him, try not to scare him away. I really like this guy’, Mark said.</p><p> </p><p>‘We’re actually going on our second date tomorrow. We’re going to follow a cooking class. His friend Taeyong is the teacher. I’m really excited out it’, Mark said with the biggest grin.</p><p> </p><p>
  
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